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Heat, bushfire danger force Tour change

Victoria's searing heat and high bushfire danger have forced Friday's stage of the Herald Sun cycling tour into a time change.

Organisers have brought the event - to be raced between Sunbury, north of Melbourne, and the central Victorian city of Bendigo - forward to start at 9.30am (AEDT).

The 147km first stage was scheduled for the middle of a day in which temperatures in the region are tipped to soar into the mid-40s, with high winds also forecast.

Organisers say they are confident the changed starting time will avoid any potential problems, though road temperatures are still expected to be in the mid-30s during the race.

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No decision has been made on Saturday's stage of the four-day Tour.

That is scheduled to run from Nagambie in central Victoria to Healesville in the Yarra Valley - taking in parts of an area heavily affected by the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 in which 173 people were killed.